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AN-Anchor
The ANCHOR '''(Aelvaskerraquois: ''A'elvas'N'ationalle'C'orporatsiet-'''H'arkona'o'''perandien'r'akette, English: Aelvan National Corporation Hostile Operations Rifle) is an assault rifle designed by Aelvan small arms designer Amelie Kakkalai and manufactured by the Aelvan National Corporation. During the final days of the 24th Century Riemannian Crisis the ANCHOR was adopted officially by the remaining divisions of the Republiquesarme, but soon found active and frequent service against the impending Chryssalid threat. It is not in widespread military service outside of the Vela Nebula and Kerraquois Border Region, but it is notorious for its reliability and unique function as well as low cost. It is chambered for the 6.1x60mm Aelva cartridge, despite originally being designed for the .264 Winchester Magnum. A variant of the ANCHOR was redesigned to fit Kharadi frontline needs by a conversion to a combination belt-fed and magazine-fed operation chambered in the standard 6.8x35mm cartridge, although these rifles are infamous for their significantly elevated rate of fire and recoil due to a shorter bolt reciprocation length and light weight; this variant is produced under the LXA1 Compact Machine Gun with little reference to the original pattern. History In 2501, the first ANCHOR prototype was completed. Originally designed for the .264 Winchester Magnum typically used by long-range, high-velocity sporting rifles, it showed promising characteristics for high armor penetration due to an extremely high muzzle velocity. An initial consideration of the design was length and ergonomics; as most Aelvan troops are relatively small in stature, a short length and high muzzle velocity to bullet weight ratio was necessary for reducing recoil and increasing portability. After testing in 2504, the Aelvan National Corporation-associated designers was urged by the Aelvan equipments requisition board to develop a new plasteel-cored cartridge - such a cartridge was the 6.1x60mm Aelva, notable for its long casing and fast-burning liquid propellant charge. Production officially began in 2505 in the Ekalai plant on Thrym, with an estimated rate of 4,000 rifles per day at completion. In 2506, the ANCHOR was officially adopted by the Kernordnnance, Aelva's central military organization, as a relatively conventional assault rifle. The initial pattern was severely plagued by reliability issues, namely barrel warping and significantly decreased muzzle velocity owing to the hot-burning and experimental liquid propellant with frequent performance disparities between different ammunition producers. The ANC responded to these severe issues by redesigning the chamber to cope with elevated chamber pressures, and designing a closed-loop liquid heat exchanger to rapidly cool the barrel during extended use. The barrel was similarly lined with a hardened form of plasteel and given a linearly increasing rifling twist rate. In 2540, after 34 years of continuous service, the formation of the Westepakt prompted the ANC to open up into the Kharad Hegemony's infantry service market as a result of the Westepakt Standardization Initiative, which slated both 6.1x60mm Aelva and 6.8x35mm as standard-use cartridges. The rifle was redesigned as the ANCHOR-KA to include a provision for belt-fed ammunition with an ambidextrous open chamber as well as fit standard Kharad box magazines. However, as the ANCHOR was initially designed with a long, higher-pressure cartridge in consideration, the elevated rate of fire resulted in initial reliability issues followed by complains that it consumed ammunition too quickly. It eventually found a niche within the Hegemony's service as a compact light machine gun, as the ANCHOR's closed-loop cooling system allowed for long sustained bursts without considerable wear or heating. Design details The ANCHOR operates with a direct impingement system, similar to the old AR-15 pattern rifles of the 21st century. A gas tube extends from a block placed roughly 1/2 the length down the barrel, funneling rapidly expanding gases to a face on the bolt that recoils backwards. After a displacement of roughly 3cm (1in) the gas tube disengages from the bolt and all gases are vented, with the bolt carried to the rear of the receiver by inertia alone. The bolt face is of the standard rotating type, with 6 locking lugs and an ambidextrous ejection provision. The extended length of the cartridge and fast-burning liquid propellant necessitated a redesign of the chamber in 2506. Converted from a standard-construction steel pattern based on the earlier MCCR-25 rifle, the ANCHOR's chamber now includes thicker walls and is constructed primarily of plasteel, one of the few rifles to possess this chamber strength. While the original design was particularly lightweight, a compromise was made to increase the rifle's reliability. It is particularly tolerant to mis-loaded ammunition and is able to handle extreme chamber pressures, though difficulty to extract has been noted with brass-cased ammunition. The most unique feature of the ANCHOR is its closed-loop cooling system. A series of channels cast into the barrel are filled with a water-ethylene glycol mixture, sealed from the outside and kept under pressure. With each reciprocation of the bolt carrier, a slot cut into the barrel operates a simple linear pump that rapidly circulates the coolant down through the barrel and into a series of radiator fins close to the bolt face, with the sealed nature of the barrel providing powerful suction that draws air through a series of scallops on the outside of the chamber. This allowed for sustained rates of fire with minimal wear, with the ANCHOR finding a niche within a number of privateering forces as an extremely compact LMG. Through compact design, the liquid cooling system does not radically impact the portability of the platform. As a result, the ANCHOR has developed a cultural reputation of being an 'anti-hero's weapon' for this purpose - its light weight, high rate of fire, powerful cartridge, and inexpensive nature has led to many nationalist paramilitaries and pirates getting ahold of them, and since then in Aelvan cinematography it is frequently associated with organized crime. The specially-designed 6.1x60mm Aelva cartridge has displayed potential to penetrate medium hardsuit armor; an initial draft of the design in 2501 included an extended barrel designed to maximize velocity over all else, but the excess length made it unsuitable for use by most troops of Riemannian species. Instead, the barrel was shortened, and propellant burn rate increased, resulting in a much louder report than most other conventional rifles. The excess gas pressure makes the ANCHOR a particularly loud weapon, which is why many models seen in the military include an integral suppressor designed to protect Riemannian troops' often sensitive ears after prolonged use. Variants ANC production variants Depending on the variant and country of adoption, the ANCHOR is either issued as select-fire (capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic firing modes) or burst/semi-auto fire. ANCHOR-1 * Also known as simply the Anchor. The ANCHOR-1 is the most ubiquitous model seeing the most production. * Heavier barrel for sustained fire. * Designated in the Aelvan Republic as the L-01 * The stock model is equipped with a sliding buttstock, though a fixed-stock and folding-stock option is available. ANCHOR-13 * Chambered for the powerful .500 Nitro Express cartridge. * Only available in semi-automatic, as fully-automatic's recoil is completely uncontrollable * Frequently used as a light anti-material weapon, such as against trucks or heavy hardsuits * Fixed-stock only * Heavier and longer (21in) barrel (still more to come)